LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University is set to open its 2022 softball campaign this weekend as they play four games over two days at the Music City Invitational hosted by Trevecca Nazarene University and held at Cedar Stone Park in Smyrna, Tenn.
 
The Bearcats, who were tabbed to finish sixth in the Preseason Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Coaches' Poll, opens the season by facing Ferris State and Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1 and 3 p.m., before concluding the weekend with games on Sunday, Feb. 20 against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Kentucky Wesleyan at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
 
"We are just excited to get outside and face some different pitchers and play some different teams and we're really looking forward to playing good competition against regional opponents this weekend," McKendree first-year coach Heather Tarter said. "We are going to play hard on defense; we're going to hopefully get some great pitching and produce some runs offensively and hopefully we can win some games."
 
Tarter said that preseason practices for her team went well and the weather allowed them to get outside some and working some situations.
 
"Practice has been going well and we've been able to get outside a few times so getting to see our team in some defensive situations, and in live situations have been good for us," added Tarter. "We've been able to put people in different positions, getting to figure out our line-up this coming spring. A lot of moving parts and we're still trying to figure things out since we're an entirely new staff."
 
Tarter, who played collegiately at both Kankakee Community College and the University of Northern Iowa, takes the reigns of the Bearcat softball program in 2022 after spending the past four years as an assistant softball coach at NCAA Division I Evansville University. Prior to serving as an assistant with the Purple Aces, Tarter was the interim head coach during the 2017 season at IUPUI and in that one season running the Jaguars, Tarter led the team with a 23-31 record and an 11-6 in the Summit League and was named the Summit League Coach of the Year and led the school to its first-ever postseason berth as IUPUI played in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC). Additionally, she spent three seasons as the head coach at Purdue University Calumet, including leading the school to a 28-8 record in their inaugural season.
 
The first-year coach has been impressed with how the team has been very adaptive and bought into the new coaching staff. Along with Tarter, the other new coaches this season are assistant coach Mady Poulter, who was a four-year letterwinner from 2015-19 as an infielder at Eastern Illinois University, while Hannah Dow has joined as the team's pitching coach after playing collegiately at both Heartland Community College and Appalachian State University.
 
"I think the team has been very adaptive to us as a new coaching staff. They've come in and have worked hard for us and come out every day and try to put their best foot forward," Tarter said. "I think they (the players) know that with a new coaching staff, that they're fighting for positions and things are getting mixed around. We may have players in different positions than they have played in the past."
 
Tarter's first team McKendree team welcomes back three starters, four pitchers, 12 letterwinners, including two fifth-year seniors and one returning All-GLVC performer from last season's 26-13 team that went 23-9 in the GLVC and advanced to the championship game of the GLVC Tournament, where they fell to top-seed Indianapolis.
 
"We have a good core group of seniors that are leading the way and being leaders for us and everyone is on board and has the same goal of trying to get back to the conference championship," added Tarter.
 
Among the position starters returning for the Bearcats this season are junior outfielder Morgan Andrews (Creal Springs, Ill./Marion), graduate student first baseman Paige Hayden (Independence, Mo./Fort Osage) and junior infielder Kelsey Sachs (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan). Andrews hit .226 in 37 games and was 6-for-7 on stolen bases, while Hayden hit .232 in 39 games and had 26 hits, scored 16 runs, hit five doubles, seven home runs and had 22 RBI and Sachs hit .244 with 21 hits, two doubles, 8 RBI and scored nine runs.  
 
"Paige (Hayden) is a returning fifth-year player. She's played a lot and knows the conference really well and she should be a staple in the middle of our line-up," added Tarter.
 
The top returning pitcher is sophomore Ellie Quaethem (Washington, Mo./Washington), who was named a Second-Team All-GLVC selection in 2021 after going 12-7 with a 2.39 ERA and recorded 117 strikeouts and walked 31 in 120.2 innings of work and tied for the team lead with nine complete games.
 
"Ellie did really well in the circle as a freshman last year and we expect her to do some big things this year as well. She has taken on a leadership role with our pitching staff and is helping develop those around her," Tarter said when asked about Quaethem.
 
Another key returner is fifth-year senior pitcher Makenzie Carter (Anna, Ill./Lindenwood-Belleville), who was injured last season and sat out, but went 5-2 with a 3.83 ERA in the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season. In 2020, Carter tossed a team-best 42 innings and recorded 29 strikeouts and tossed five complete games.
 
"Makenzie was injured last year, so she hasn't played in a year and we're expecting big things out of her. She's been doing really well and producing really well in the circle, and I think she will eat up a lot of our innings," the McKendree coach said about Carter.
 
Along with the returners, Tarter and her coaching staff has brought in several newcomers, including two NCAA Division I transfers – junior infielder/catcher Skyler Davis (Muncie, Ind./UT-Martin) and junior utility player Olivia Stansbury (Lafayette, Ind./Purdue Fort Wayne), that the coach expects to step right in and contribute this year.
 
"Olivia (Stansbury) came in this fall from Fort Wayne and has done really, really well and we expect her to be a big bat in our line-up, while Skyler (Davis) also is going to bring a powerful bat in our line-up."
 
While Quaethem pitched a total of 120.2 innings last season, the other four pitchers that are returning and played last season combined to throw a total of nine innings in eight games.
 
Among some of the top freshmen newcomers for the Bearcats this season according to Tarter are pitcher Sydney Bires (Carlinville, Ill./Gillespie), infielder/catcher Heaven Lawrence (Marion, Ill./Marion) and utility player Austen Vickery (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township).
 
Tarter says that her team's leadership has been good so far this season and that can be attributed to the leadership that both fifth-year seniors – Hayden and Carter – have provided.
 
"Our two fifth-year players and both have been great leaders. They've really stepped up and encouraged the younger kids and have showed them the ropes. They come out every day with a positive attitude, work hard and lead by example and leading with their voices to get everybody on the same page," added Tarter.
 
Tarter says that one of the biggest keys for her team this season is to focus on getting better every day and taking things day-by-day.
 
"I think we have to focus on us getting better every single day and focus on the little things and not let things get too big for us. We need to live in the moment and focus on one game at a time and not look too far in the future, because we have got to take care of business early on," said Tarter.
 
Among the goals for the team this season, according to Tarter, are to be able to get back to the conference tournament again this season.
 
"Once you get in the conference tournament, anything can happen. We have to be one of the top eight teams in the conference to get there and we're focusing on that," Tarter said. "I think the GLVC is one of most competitive conferences for softball in the country for Division II and I think if we play to our ability and our capability we can compete for the top and we hope to be towards the top every year and I think if we stay within ourselves and focus on the small goals, I believe we can compete for those conference championships."
 
Tarter has been impressed by how her team has bought in to the philosophy they have tried to put in place this season.
 
"I think they were hesitant in the fall, they weren't really sure what we were about, how we wanted to hit the ball, how we wanted to handle the ball and you could see throughout the fall, especially this preseason, that the buy-in factor has been there," the coach stated. "They've really bought in to our hitting philosophy, and have really worked at it and once we got outside, they could see the results. I think every day you can see the results that we're getting a little bit better. We have kids hitting the ball harder and further than they ever have and that includes the returning kids, so it is just a matter of continuing to buy in, continuing to work hard and trust the process."
 
Following this weekend's four games at the Music City Classic, the Bearcats will play six games over three days next weekend (Feb. 24-26) at the Lewis Flyers Dome Invitational, which will be played indoors in Rosemont, Ill. At the event, the Bearcats will face Ferris State and Wayne State (Mich.) on Feb. 24, before meeting Wisconsin-Parkside and Grand Valley State on Feb. 25 and Purdue Northwest and Saginaw Valley State University on Feb. 26.